A Bad Metaphor

Most people reading this have probably heard the metaphor comparing something to a marathon as opposed to a sprint: your education is a marathon, not a sprint; your career is a marathon, not a sprint; investing is a marathon, not a sprint. At first, the meaning seems obvious. A marathon is 42,195m (26.2 miles) and sprints are 400m or less. You don't have to be good at math to see that the marathon is more than 100 times longer. The marquis sprinting distance is 100m and is used to crown the "world's fastest" man and woman. Both cover the distance in less than 11 seconds. Both marathon world records are over 2 hours. The Disney Marathon requires you maintain a pace of 16 minutes per mile which will get you to the finish line in a few seconds less than 7 hours. A marathon is much longer than a sprint. I get it. Or I thought I did until I finished my first marathon.

When I started training for my first 5k, I did a "couch to 5k" program. I ran several days a week running longer and longer intervals until I could run 30 minutes wihout stopping (the approximate time it takes to finish a 5k). To be ready to train for a marathon, I needed to be able to run 8-10 miles wihot stoppimg. About 6 months after that first 5k race, I ran a 15k and started training for my first marathon. My training plan lasted 16 weeks running 4 days a week and peaked at 40 weekly miles and a long run of 20 miles. The long runs took 3-4 hours (or longer). Then I ran for 4 hours and 27 minutes and had over 4,000 people finish ahead of me and many more behind me.

Between my first and second marathon, I ran four 5ks, two 15ks, and three half marathons over more than 2.5 years. I lost 15-20 pounds off of my already slight frame. My goal was to finish faster and run the full distance without stopping (I walked through the water stops during my first marathon). I added a 5th day of running to a 18 week training plan and peaked at 50 miles a week with a long run of 20 miles. This was on top of years of gradually improving fitness.

So if it isn't obvious yet, a bigger difference between a sprint and a marathon, bigger than the  difference in distance, is the difference in preparation required. Most people can run 100m. Most of those who can't are able to walk 100m. However, most major marathons include hundreds of people who enter and prepare only to fail to finish. This still isn't the biggest difference.

I don't know when it specifically occurred to me. Maybe I was on a run and saw someone pushing their belongings in a shopping cart. Maybe I had stopped at my local drug store to buy a Gatorade from someone working a second job. Eventually it occurred to me that not everyone can train for a marathon. You need time, support, health, and at least a little disposable income. If any one of these things is missing, you are going to have a hard time. Start adding them up and it quickly becomes impossible. Running a marathon requires privilege.

When I trained for my first 5k, I wore workout clothes I already owned and wore shoes I bought because they were a bargain, but I did most of my running on a treadmill in a gym. By the time I ran my second marathon, I had gone through more pairs of shoes than I could count and most set me back more than $100. I had enough of my favorite running shorts and sweat wicking shirts to run 5 days a week without having to do laundry in between. I usually had 2 pairs of shoes so one could be nice and dry while the sweat and occasional rain evaporated from the others. I had a wife and extended family to help watch the kids. I had a job that gave me the  flexibility to have time to run. I had the required privilege.

So when someone tells you something is a marathon and not a sprint, not only does it take time but it probably also takes preparation. And if it takes both, you must have the privilege to even have the opportunity to undertake something that requires time and preparation. So when someone uses this metaphor, be thankful for the marathons your life gives you the opportunity to run.

Stop Saying "13.1 Marathon"

The latest foray into the commercialization of running is the Michelob ULTRA 13.1 Marathon Series (http://www.131marathon.com/).  I like beer. I even like Michelob. I like running. I accept that for-profit race series exist. So why should this be offensive?  Quite simply, 13.1 miles is not a "marathon".  It is a half marathon. A marathon is 26.2 miles.

I understand other races are named by their distances. No one is confused or offended by someone saying 5k or 10k, but also no one familiar with running would call those races a "5k marathon" or "10k marathon".

I also understand that a half Ironman is also called a 70.3 Ironman. The difference there is that "Ironman" is a trademark held by the World Triathlon  Corporation.  Other races can't call themselves a half ironman or full ironman so they often use the distance (70.3 or 140.6) and just like we use Kleenex as a generic term, people sometimes use the term "70.3 ironman" to describe a half Ironman distance race.  However, in my experience the preference seems to be "70.3" or "half ironman".

I tried to find an explanation for this naming convention. Wikipedia doesn't know what a 13.1 marathon is and the first several pages of a google search all point to the Michelob race. At first I thought it was comical to see "how far is a 13.1 marathon" but then I realized I had already asked and answered that question by visiting the site above for the Michelob series. Not surprisingly, it is 13.1 miles.

I can only assume that the goal is to make this race more approachable. Not everyone knows how far a marathon is. Most people have never run one. They know it's a long race. They might know you get medals and other "swag" when you complete one. They might even know you aren't required to run the whole time.  Calling a race a "13.1 marathon" might make running and racing appealing to more people which I am all for.  It still makes my skin crawl.

I'm a very typical runner in many ways. I started in 2009 and did a "couch to 5k" program pounding away on a gym treadmill wearing cotton gym shorts and heavily discounted Nike trainers that were too small. My wife and I ran our first 5k in a relatively small race but we got to wear bibs with numbers on them and had our time recorded electronically and had people we didn't know cheering us on even though we were nowhere near the front of the pack.  I finished that race barely in the front half but I was hooked.

As for my commitment to running, I might be a little more aggressive than some. After that first 5k, we moved straight on to training for a full marathon and threw in a 15k for good measure. After my first marathon in January 2011, I focused on 5ks and half marathons for a while.  By the time I ran my second full marathon in 2013 I had moved from the middle of the pack in that first 5k to the 89th percentile in the Marine Corps Marathon.

Why am I sharing all of this information?  Am I just bragging? Maybe I am bragging a little, but that is because I have earned it. I'm not bragging about finishing ahead of about 89.4% of people who ran with me in DC. I am bragging that I ran that race 45 min and 22 sec faster than my previous race at that distance. I am bragging that I dropped my average pace per mile from 10:12 to 8:28.

You see, most of us who do go out and run every week and race often aren't racing against each other any more than someone who just does one race to cross it off of their bucket list. We are racing against ourselves. The marathon is the "premier" distance for people who want to improve their running. It is the gold standard yardstick for measuring endurance running performance.  That's still not why I find the term "13.1 marathon" offensive.

The real crux of my contempt is this: the body starts to "break down" after covering 20 miles. I'm not going to try explain the physiology, but I will tell you this: even now at my lowest level of fitness and training in years, I could still run 13.1 miles without stopping. It will be slow, but I could finish. I could not run 26.2.  The marathon is special. So let's not water it down by trying to turn it into Kleenex.

38th Annual Marine Corps Marathon

The 2013 Marine Corps Marathon was my 40th birthday gift/celebration. I turned 40 in September so about a year ago I started looking for a marathon to run around my birthday. Some folks from my local running group were planning on running MCM so it seemed like a good fit - a trip for my wife and me to DC, a chance to visit friends in Baltimore, and a chance to run in one of the premier marathons in the country. Knowing it would sell out fast, I started hitting the web site 1 minute before registration started and after about 45 minutes battling the web site I was registered. Training went as well as it could. I only missed 4 runs in 18 weeks. I did three 20-milers and each one got easier. The taper went great and I was doing all my short runs easily at my goal race pace of 8:10.

This was my first "destination race" so that added some additional excitement. My wife and I flew into Baltimore on Friday and spent some time with friends. I did a 2-mile shake-out run Saturday morning. Since all of my training was in flat Orlando, this was my only really hilly run of all of my training - something that I would later regret. The rest of Saturday was pretty hectic. My wife and her friend were staying in Bethesda the night before the race so we had to check into that hotel. Then we went into DC to check into the hotel I was staying in. We finally got some lunch around  3:00 PM and then headed to the expo to get my bib. 

Packet pickup and the expo were both a nightmare. It took about 40 minutes to get through the line to get my number and the B-tag checking system wasn't working (I heard later that there was a power outage). The wait to get into the expo wasn't quite as bad but I didn't have a bag so I got to go in a shorter line. People with bags and purses had a longer wait. Once I got in the expo, they ran out of bags for the bag check about 10 people ahead of me. They said you would just have to find a clear bag if you needed to check something. At first I was panicked because I didn't realize that the bag check sticker was on the back of my bib (Disney puts them in the bag). Then  a guy in front of me looked in a trash can and found a couple of bags so I ended up getting one after all, but not before getting stressed out about my plans for what I was going to take with me to the start area and what I would do with it.

We had dinner at "Founding Farmers" - a really great restaurant in DC - and then headed to another restaurant to meet my running group friends. This was a bit of a long walk (something my wife thinks impacted my performance but I'm not too sure). By the time I got there, only two of them were left (7 of us ran).  This was the first of several near misses with my group but it was good to chat with the two of them for a while at the restaurant and then while we walked to the metro back to our hotels. 

The night before the race, as usual, I got almost no sleep. It seemed like I could hear cabs honking out on the streets until about 2:00 AM. At 4:30, some guys were out in the hall singing Ricky Martin's "Cup of Life". Since I was going to get up at 5:30 anyway, I decided to get up and then had that song stuck in my head all morning. I had a Clif Bar, a dump, got dressed, took a selfie in my race getup, and headed to the metro. The weather was pretty cold (40s) so I had on a long sleeved shirt over the shirt I planned on running in. I put my number on my leg because A) I wanted to be able to get rid of my long sleeved shirt if I needed to and B) I'm used to wearing it there now. I tried putting it on my shirt but it just didn't feel natural.  I also got myself some cheap football gloves and planned on tossing those too.

I got there plenty early. I had time to pee and sit in the hospitality tent for a while and wait for some of my running group friends. By the time they were heading my way, it was about 7:15 so I needed to check my bag and get ready for the 7:55 start. I was too anxious to wait for them any longer so that was my second near miss with my friends. I checked my bag and hit the port-o-let line one more time.  While I was waiting in line I set my watch for the marathon distance and my goal time of 3:35.  I had never used this particular setting before so I thought it might come in handy. Bad idea. It just gave me extra screens to scroll through when I checked my time throughout the race. 

Unfortunately that toilet stop put me way too close to start time. I headed to the starting line and tried to find the 3:30-ish corral. I got as far to the front as I could, but the start was the second thing problem I had with this race. They had corrals on both sides of a divided highway. I stood on the left side and after the Howitzer went off to start the race I watched the 3:45 pacer go running by on the other side while we stood still. The crowd at the beginning was ridiculous. I completely missed a water stop because water was in the back and by the time I was able to get over I was past the last person passing out water. Also, I must have been in the "long" lane because at the first mile marker, my Garmin already said 1.18 miles.  You placed yourself at the start so you had some very "optimistic" people toward the front. I felt like I was passing people for about 18 miles. By the time I stopped passing people I felt more like it was because I had slowed down and not because I found people at my pace.  I really enjoyed the race overall but the crowds and uneven pacing were a bit annoying.

So now for the fun part - the race. In spite of the MASSIVE crowds and a major uphill climb at the beginning I managed to keep my pace under 9:00 for the first 2 miles. That first climb was pretty impressive - 244 feet according to Garmin in about 2 miles. It didn't seem too bad at the time and from what I had heard about the course it was all downhill from there.

I tossed my gloves at about 2 miles and then the climb turned into my favorite terrain - downhill. I love charging down hills. I was still in heavy traffic but managed to cut loose a bit and made up some serious time. Around 4 miles in I ditched the long sleeved shirt.  My favorite part of the race was Georgetown (between the 4 and 5 mile marks). Beautiful town to run through and my watch hit the 5 mile lap just at the top of the last downhill - a massive plunge down Wisconsin to Waterfront. I when I got to the bottom my watch said 6:00 pace for that lap and I believe it - I was flying down that hill. In fact I was a little nervous that I might blow out a knee at the bottom when we had to make a sharp left turn.  Somewhere around there was a group of drummers. They were playing big drums that seemed Asian even though the drummers didn't. The sound was amazing and really gave me a boost.

Between miles 5 and 6, I caught a glimpse of some of the leaders. The road heading toward the zoo was an out-and-back section so they were heading back and at about the 9 mile mark. After hitting the 5k at 26:40 (8:34 pace) I averaged 7:48 for the next 5k hitting the 10k at 50:56 - 8:12 pace which is just what I needed for 3:35. After 6.2 miles I was right on track.  Interesting side note - this section I recognized after the fact as the road to the zoo. I went there on a previous trip (I think in high school 20+ years ago). There may have been road signs to plant the memory in my subconscious but it was really only after the race when I thought back to that section that I realized that's where I was. I hit the 15k at 1:16:39 - 8:13 pace - feeling good and on schedule.

After mile nine we hit the waterfront. I ran by the Kennedy Center where I recalled going on a tour during that high school trip. We went on the roof and a friend and I raced across it. I thought it was interesting that I sprinted on that roof and here I was running by that building 20+ years later.

Miles 10-15 were kind of a blur. I was feeling really good when I hit the half. I remember thinking that doing that again was going to be tough and that I kind of wished I was just doing a half because I could have really killed it. I had no idea what my exact pace was but did know I was at 1:46 for the half - a PB by about 5 minutes. My original goal was 3:40 so at this point I had plenty of room to spare.  That was my only real pace check since my Garmin had me in the high 7s up to that point due to the long first mile.  Official pace for the half was 8:09 still 3 seconds under my goal for 3:35.

Next was the mall. I remember running toward the Capitol.  After scanning the crowds for my wife an her friend, I finally found them after mile 17.  It was a great boost to see my wife. I had almost given up on seeing her and figured I already missed her in my running daze. I remember being surprised at how tree-lined the mall was. I think the crowds blocked a lot of the view so everything looked very different. 

Circling the Capitol around mile 18 was where I first started to feel it.  Up to that point I felt like I could go forever.  I still felt pretty strong and just wanted to get to mile 20 figuring I could survive the last 10k. I eased off a bit and was averaging around 8:23 - about my original planned pace to hit 3:40. I felt like keeping that "easy" pace was workable and would definitely get me under 3:40 since I had a good head start.

The last few miles were not all that exciting.  We crossed the bridge back to VA and so it was just running on the highway. There was a girl matching my 8:20-ish pace around mile 21. I hung on her shoulder as long as I could but that is when I started to get some tightness in my legs. I managed to run through the first cramp and it seemed to go away. Mile 22 was 8:32 on my Garmin and mile 23 was 8:44.  The hills were mostly just overpasses and the bridge at that point but they were starting to take their toll.  I adjusted my goal to just finish without having to stop running - I hadn't broken stride even once to that point. That's when my legs were really getting angry. At about 24.7 on my watch I was making a left turn coming down an exit ramp when my leg completely cramped up. I had no choice but to stop and stretch. I never really recoved. From that point on I was doing the "marathon shuffle".  Miles 24 and 25 were 9:42 and 10:11 on my Garmin. Now the hills were real. They weren't overpasses - they were actual hills. I managed to crank it back up to 9:52 for mile 26.  Thanks to my watch setting snafu, my watch stopped at 26.2 which was unfortunately before I made it to the official 26 mile marker. I had been dropping quite a few "F bombs" those last few miles so when I got to 26 and couldn't see the finish, one was preceeded with a "what the".  Then I turned left and saw the most ridiculous part of the course. They had advertised a "flatter finish". I would hate to know what the old finish was like. This last hill was so steep almost everyone I saw was walking and it seemed like you could put your hands down in front of you to help climb up. It was probably just a few hundred feet, maybe less, but it was brutal. I refused to stop running - something I only did once for that charlie horse - and made it to the top and the last right turn to the finish line.

I'm glad I had sunglasses on because I was holding back tears a few times. Coming up to the finish was the first, then getting my medal from the Marines, then thinking about seeing my wife. I had to climb more ridiculous hills after getting my medal and goodie bag so I stopped for a breather at the top of the hill. I found my wife through a fence and she passed me the phone to call my 5 year-old. She asked if I won (I knew she would). I told her I did "for me" and that I got another medal.

For me this race was a lot of victories. I had been training towards 3:35 on my Garmin. That meant an 8:12 pace on my watch. I had 10 miles in a row under 8:00, 4 more under 8:12, and another 5 under the 8:25 pace I needed for my secondary goal of 3:40.  My time for 26.2 on my watch was 3:39:14.  My official pace through 30k was 8:08 - fastest cumulative pace of the race after doing 8:34 for the first 5k. I ran a 7:57 pace between the 10k and 15k.  I was at 8:11 through 35k and 8:22 through 40k.  That means I was under my stretch goal for 35k and dropped under my goal in the last 2 miles.

During my training, when I stopped running on my long runs, it was because I was "too tired" to keep running. This time the cramps in my leg were a new experience for me (not something I would want to happen again) and I felt like I gave everything I had - my body shut down and I did what I could with what I had left.

Now it's time to give my wife a much needed break from my training over the past 18 weeks. I may race a few more times this year to ride the wave of my race fitness, but no more hardcore training plans for me.

I don't think anyone can go into a marathon knowing for sure how you are going to do. You can know whether or not you are prepared, if you are healthy, how fast you are able to run. There is no guarantee that will translate to performance on the day.  I think the best you can hope for is to finish without saying "if only".  I'm not saying if only I didn't skip training, if only I went faster/slower in the start/finish, if only the weather was better. I know I did my best and I know what that means today. I have no doubt I can run a marathon in 3:35, but I also am ecstatic that my PR is now 3:42:13.

Preparing for the Big Race

So you've paid your registration fee, trained for months, booked flights and hotel rooms, and now you are ready for your big race. Race day is approaching. What are all of those things you need to remember to avoid major running catastrophe and the little annoyances that could have been avoided? I figured I would share my list in hopes it might help out some others. Post your additions in the comments.

1. Pack everything important in your carry-on bag.

My dad travelled frequently for business and my parents still travel frequently for pleasure. This is a lesson that is a habit for them and has rubbed off on me. For my race travels, that means my shoes, Garmin, and Garmin charger. Anything else I can buy.  That doesn't mean I won't put my full race outfit and other supplies in my carry-on, but if space becomes an issue I could leave them out.

2. Download your Garmin data then delete your history.

I found out the hard way that your lap history can fill up in the middle of a race. Navigating seldom-used watch settings isn't something you want do be doing while you are running for a PR.

3. Don't pack gels in your carry-on.

Even though you might get through security, you could have to throw them out or worse miss your flight while they investigate the contents of your bag.

4. Document your running routine as a packing list.

Do you use glide or band-aids, eat homemade pre- or during-run snacks, listen to music? Write it all down before your last few long runs then make sure to pack everything you need. If it's too late for that, walk through your routine as if you are going for a run and put all the things you pick up in a grocery bag or something similar so you can make sure it all makes it to your luggage.

5. Lay out all your gear the night before.

If you are running close to home, his might not be such a big deal. However finding everything in a cluttered suitcase and unfamiliar setting if a hotel room can be tough especially before sunrise after a restless night.  If you use pouches or bags, fill them up the night before. Put the gels in your pockets if that is where you keep them. If you are like me, you will still triple-check everything (and still forget something) but still better to stack the odds in your favor.

6. Don't forget your Garmin when you leave for the starting line.

I did that heading out to a half marathon. Luckily I had plenty of time to make the 20-minute round trip back to my hotel room, but that was stress I didn't need.  Sure I could have just used the on-course clocks but doing math while running is harder than you would think.

7. Don't forget about the expo.

Most big races have them and they can be a great place to pick up gear and swag. More importantly, they can be a grocery store for gels and other last-minute needs (things I forgot to out on this list or forgot in spite of putting them in this list).  So don't stress too much since you can find almost anything you might need.

8. Don't get new race gear at the expo.

Don't try compression sleeves for 26.2 miles if you've never used them. Don't try some new chewy calorie source when you trained with gels. And for God's sake don't get a new pair of shoes unless you lost or forgot yours and found a pair of shoes you've run in before.

9. Bring disposable clothes.

Most big races donate discarded clothes to charity so if you anticipate cold weather, bring an old sweatshirt, hat, gloves, whatever you think you might need. Keep in mind that your body heat will warm you up so you may want to discard these things at the start or right after. If you wear extra clothes, make sure your bib is on your bottom layer or on a removable number belt if you have experience with such things (but refer to #8 before you strap on something new).

10. Check in to your flight.

Typically you can check in 24 hours in advance. Get your electronic boarding pass or print it so you are ready to go.

So that is my personal encarnation of my running OCD. Hope it is helpful for you!

An Inconvenient Possibility

Running a marathon is a bourgeois thing to do. Let's face it - people working two jobs to keep a roof over their head and food on the table aren't thinking they need to spend hours every week running to nowhere to get some sense of accomplishment. They are apparently likely to drive by and yell, "run Forrest!" as one random gentleman did just this very morning.  I recently had the misfortune of running by a young man who was so offended that someone was running for exercise (or whatever it was I was doing) that he felt obliged to yell at me as long as I was in earshot.  I get it. Running is a pretty ridiculous thing to do.  It has, like most ridiculous things tend to do, placed me at a strange sort of nexus of the universe.

You see, the marathon I have been training for - the Marine Corps Marathon - winds through Washington DC and specifically through many areas impacted by the current government shutdown. The race organizers have been monitoring the shutdown and have now announced that a final decision will be made by October 19 and that decision could be to cancel the race. Of course my immediate reaction was to pout. Then I regrouped and tried to figure out how to run a different marathon if MCM is cancelled. Then I got pissed off because that was going to be very difficult. You see, even though marathons are bourgeois and elitist, they are also very popular at least relative to their supply. MCM sold out in a matter if hours. Any marathon coming up in the next few weeks will have sold out long ago. So I pouted some more, realized I was being an elitist turd, and got over it.

So how does any of this put me at the nexus of the universe?  Well, as we have seen so far, the plight of the people does not seem to impact political decisions but personal impact on politicians does. Sequestration continued as it was originally set in motion until it personally impacted people in the government and the "business types" who fund them.  As soon as flights started being delayed or cancelled, suddenly there was plenty of money for the TSA and air traffic controllers.

This is where I have placed my misguided petty hope that I will get to run in MCM - that just one person in congress is running in or is related to and/or schtupping someone who is running in MCM. That is all it would take - just one person out of the 30,000 people currently in a panic about their marathon hopes to also have a voice in congress. I'm not saying that would be enough to end the government's shutdown or prevent it from defaulting on its debt, but it would be enough to make sure MCM happens.

So here I sit with my best hope of running my marathon (a clearly selfish activity) is for the selfishness of at least one politician to outweigh his or her political convictions. Sadly this is probably more likely than the government shutdown ending by the 19th.

15th Annual Miracle Miles 15k

This race was a bit of an afterthought. I needed to run 10 at marathon pace this weekend so when I saw this race I figured 9.3 was close enough. I've done this race 2 of the last 3 years and it is one of the few long races in Orlando so it's one I like to do.

The last two were pretty hot so I was nervous about the weather, but today was about as lovely as you could ask for in FL in September.  The humidity wasn't too bad and even as the sun came up, there was no sense of scorching heat blazing down on you. I'm sure finishing 10+ min faster helped too, but even after the race the weather seemed nice.

After a wonderful 40th birthday party last night followed by a not-so-good night's sleep, I wasn't sure about how I would do.  I really wanted to hit my 8:11 target pace and knew that would get me close to 1:15, but if it felt too hard I was ready to back off and make this a training run. 

I got a great parking space not too far from the start but still outside the route so I wouldn't get stuck after.  I warmed up by running to Lake Eola and watched the sunrise over the lake as I finished my 0.7 to make an even 10 for the day.  Between the cooler weather, nerves, and somewhat fresh legs things seemed to be going well and I locked in my pace at 8:10 without too much effort. I watched the start of the 5k and then was one of the first people at the starting line and found a good spot near the 8:00 pace marker.

The start was pretty good. Even though they had us come forward to the starting line to fill in the space, there wasn't a log jam and I was able to lock in my pace. 

The first few miles were uneventful. We did a quick lap around a block downtown before heading up Orange to Kaley. Kaley was right into the sun and then around 2.75 I think someone puked and another guy almost tripped over a cone. I checked my pace at the mile markers and was staying around 8:05.  I was feeling really good finishing mile 3 and started to work on my strategy: keep it easy and on schedule through the halfway point and maybe pick it up after that.  For the first 4-5 miles I was racing the clock but after that I was racing people.

My pace didn't really pick up much in miles 6-7 but I was still going strong while some others were withering. It was a great feeling to be passing people this year after bonking big time last year and feeling like everyone passed me. In spite of moving up in the pack, mile 6 was the slowest as I got ready for the last 5k.

The last few miles I pushed a bit. I felt like I was at about a 7:55 pace but I guess after 6 miles 8:00 feels like 7:55 (and yes I can tell the difference).

I knew with 1.5 left I was home free. I knew I could push harder but for some reason I chickened out. Maybe because the few people who passed me were still in reach, I just kept cruising to the last half mile. Then I started picking up the pace. With about 600m left I passed Ray from my running group and gave him an awkward high-five-fist-bump and tried to get him to come with me on my kick as I ran by. When I got past mile 9 and to the last 400m I knew I had one hell of a kick in me.  As I turned the corner to the home stretch I took off. There was a "young guy" I caught up with and said something like "Come on! Let's get 'em!"  He tried to hang with me (and failed) as we weaved through the finishers. I finished in typical fashion - pumping my fists and woohooing.  I crossed the line, whooped and hollered some more, grabbed my medal (probably a bit aggressively) and before I knew it had caught my breath. I found my kick partner and we fist-bumped. He looked rough. One of the volunteers asked if he was ok.  According to Garmin I hit a 4:35 max pace on my kick. I believe it. I was hauling much ass.

After the race, I ran into Ray again and 2 ladies from my group and one of the guys who hasn't run with us for a while (he kicked my ass).

Statistically, this was a great race for me. Finished in 1:15:03, 24 of 103 in my new age group, 133 of 707 men, and 186 of 1761 overall.  Beat my previous PR by over 12 minutes.

Splits: 8:06, 8:09, 8:05, 8:11, 8:08, 8:12, 8:02, 8:01, 7:51, 6:32 (0.35)

Why Boston Matters

As yesterday's tragedy is reviewed in excruciating detail, I wanted to try to give my non-running friends some perspective. Yes, the Boston Marathon is run on "Patriots Day". Yes, yesterday was "Tax Day". Yes, the marathon was a worldwide event with lots of spectators. For people who have no concept of what it is like to run a marathon, they must all seem the same. I'm sure you realize Boston is important the same way you know the Masters, Wimbledon, and the Daytona 500 are important. But the Boston Marathon is different.

On March 27 I registered for the Marine Corps Marathon. It will be my second marathon. The first was the 2011 Disney Marathon. I had only been running a few years and I knew nothing about the sport. I just knew I could run that race as long as I paid my money and registered before it was full.

Every year, more and more people are running marathons. The Marine Corps Marathon filled up in less than 3 hours last year. That's how I remember the exact date when I registered - the only day you can register. I sat at my computer at 11:59 watching the second hand and poised to click refresh on my web browser. I battled an overloaded web site for an hour and fifteen minutes before I finally got in. That still doesn't come close to what it takes to get to run Boston. It doesn't even scratch the surface.

You see, running is a very inclusive sport. To run in most races, you usually just have to pay your money and sign up in time. For most marathons, you have about 6 hours to finish (14 minute per mile pace which is really a brisk walk).

Boston is different. It is THE marathon. Unlike other Marathons, there is a "qualifying standard". That means to even have a chance to enter, you must complete a qualifying marathon under the required time within 18 months of the race. If you are a woman and over the age of 80, that means 5 hours and 25 minutes. I am in the second fastest group - men 35-39. My Boston qualifying time (BQ time) is 3:10. That is a 7:14 per mile pace. To put that in perspective, 1,675 men in the 34-39 age range started the 2013 Disney marathon - a certified BQ course. 26 finished under the official BQ limit of 3:10:59. Stephane Boehm of Nice, France finished 27th - ahead of 1,648 men his age, 153rd of 20,734 total finishers and failed to qualify for Boston by 50 seconds (less than 2 seconds per mile). My fastest 5k (3.1 mile) race to date was 22:37 or a 7:16 pace. If I could run that pace for 26.2 miles (which I cannot) I would have finished just behind Stephane and still would not have qualified for Boston.

I don't know if Stephane Boehm had any intention of entering the 2014 Boston Marathon but I guarantee that countless others who failed to finish the Disney and many other races around the world within the BQ standard were devastated. To complete a marathon takes months of training. Most training plans last 16-18 weeks and assume you can run 10 miles or so before you even start. To qualify for Boston can take YEARS of running 40-50 miles a week including running 20 miles or more at least once before each race. You will wear out countless pairs of shoes, run through minor injuries, and rehab major ones. You will be chased by dogs, taunted by teenagers in passing cars, get rained on, trip and fall over a crack in the sidewalk, spend a fortune on Gatorade and gel (semi-liquid sugar packets), convince your closest family members and friends that you are a lunatic, and strain your relationship with your significant other. And you still might not get in. You see starting in 2013 it wasn't enough to just meet the BQ standard and then be one of the first to sign up. The faster you ran the better your chance of getting a spot.

THAT is what is particularly disturbing to runners about the bombing in Boston. This was not just a sporting event. The spectators killed and injured were not just fans. They were also family members and friends. They were the people who supported the runners through what is probably the toughest amateur qualification process in the world. Many people dream of running a marathon, but many of those who have dream of running Boston. They put post-its with their BQ time on their mirror and memorize their mile split times and get a "BQ" tattoo when they qualify. It is a lifelong pursuit. THAT is what was attacked for runners - the living embodiment of a dream.

So I will apologize collectively for us if we seem to be taking this very personally. We are a bit "off" to begin with, you know. However, hopefully you have a little bit better view into our crazy world and how it is now particularly crazy, sad, and broken.

Galen Rupp - Perfect 10k?

After reading "That Pre Thing" in the latest "Runner's World", I had the inevitable response - I wanted to race. I wanted to push myself to see what my guts could get me that my training couldn't. With no races on my schedule, I did the next best thing - I watched other people race on YouTube. I started with the David Rudisha 800m world record in London. I wasn't watching Rudisha. I was watching Nick Symmonds. After reading the RW article, I wanted to see him overachieve and PR. I wasn't a fan during the Olympics. The word "douche" was more likely than "idol" to come to mind. After reading the article, though, I have a lot of respect for him and what he is trying to do for competitive running in the US.

So after watching Symmonds come from last to finish fifth against the best in the world, I switched to my favorite race of the Olympics - Mo Farah's win in the 10,000. After watching the last three laps as pure motivation and entertainment, I found another version with the full race and watched about the last 6-7 laps. That's where I noticed something. I might not have noticed, but while I was browsing YouTube I found a video that talked about how slow the Olympic 10,000 was and specifically Galen Rupp's silver medal time. The guy in the video was talking about how the strategy is different when you are racing to win and not necessarily trying to set a world record. So when I was watching more of the 10,000, I found myself watching Rupp and what he was doing. After a few laps it was very obvious - he wasn't racing to win, he was racing to medal. From the time I started watching he was in fourth place - not third, not fifth. He was running as slow as he could without losing a shot at the bronze. Behind him, Mo Farah was racing to win. He was running his own race. With the field bunched up, he could pick his pace and his spot. Clearly he felt he could out kick the field. As Farah started his kick for the last 400m, I think he knew the race was his to lose. It was a 400m race he was going to run from the front. Rupp stayed in fourth. Don't get me wrong, the lead pack was accelerating and so was Rupp. He was still in the shoulder of the third place runner, but he didn't make a move until the last 200m. His tactics obviously paid off, he passed the would-be bronze and silver medalists as the field spread out across the finish.

So why do I think this was a perfect race for Rupp? I am sure he wanted to win as much as anyone and he didn't win. Maybe he thought he could catch Farah in the last 200, but I doubt it. What his tactics said to me is, "Don't come this far and not go home with a medal!" It was possibly the most disciplined race I have ever seen (granted I haven't watched many races that closely). His challenge was also obvious - pass as many of the greatest runners in the world in the last 200m without letting any of them pass you. I'm not sure you can win a race without racing to win. I'm pretty sure you can fail to medal by trying to win. I think Rupp wanted a medal, any medal, and silver was the perfect result.

2013 Disney Half Marathon

This was probably my most "spontaneous" race to date. Ever since my first 5k, almost every race was something I scheduled and trained specifically for. Then my wife and I decided to get Disney annual passes. The next obvious step was to center some Disney trips around races. That led us to looking at doing Coast-to-Coast. Before we knew it, I was signed up for the Disney World Half, (thanks to my running club's guaranteed spot) Julie was signed up for the Princess Half, and we were arranging for babysitting for the Disneyland Half together.

Having just come off of a great performance for Wine and Dine, I was feeling great about my running and the fall weather was almost perfect here in Orlando. I figured that between Thanksgiving, Christmas, New Years, kids being home from school, and family obligations, I wouldn't be able to train consistently. So my plan when I signed up was to take it easy, enjoy the event, and get some pictures with the characters.

Of course plans change. Thanksgiving came and went and I didn't miss a run. Same with Christmas and New Years. On top of that, my training was going very well. I was hitting all my paces with a target pace of 8:30. Since I was within about 3 seconds of my 8:45 target pace for Wine and Dine, I felt pretty good. So In spite of a cold that made its way around my family around New Years, I was shooting for 1:52 with a secret goal of 1:50.

We were able to stumble on a really good rate at the Animal Kingdom Lodge and, after dinner with my parents at the house on Friday, we headed out to Disney to check in. The staff (as always with Disney properties) was extremely nice and helpful. The girl at the check-in counter was going to be running the half as well and was impressed when I told her I would be done by about 7:30 AM (always an ego boost when people are impressed by your time). About ten minutes from the house, I had realized I had forgotten to pack my gels. So after checking in, I went to a (somewhat) nearby store to grab some gels and picked up a new shirt for the race. Then we checked out some animals with the night vision goggles they have at one of the "savanah" overlooks (quite cool for sure). Back at the room, I laid out all of my gear and we managed to get the super-excited 5 year old to bed and I did everything I could to try to get some sleep before my 3:30AM wake up call.

I'm sure I slept, but not sure I slept much. The hotel phone was the first of my 3 devices to go off so I jumped out of bed and turned off the alarm clock (my phone went off about 10 min later while I was brushing my teeth). I geared up and popped a cough drop due to my lingering cold symptoms, threw my gEar bag over my shoulder, and headed to the bus.


I listened to some music on my phone on the relatively short ride from Animal Kingdom Lodge to Epcot and snapped some pictures on the way into the staging area. Unlike the Wine and Dine, the bag check is a pass-through situation so I checked my bag and rendezvoused with my Dailymile friend Craig C. for what ended up being a very long walk to the start. I had some good conversation with Craig who was doing the first leg of the Goofy Challenge (half Saturday and full Sunday) and said we our "good lucks" as we headed to our assigned corrals. There was some room to the side of the start so I did about a half mile warmup to get a feel for my pace and loosen up a bit before heading into my corral.

The problem with being in corral A is that there is a huge gap between the elite runners in the front and the rest of us mere mortals. That makes it hard to judge where to start within the corral. Luckily I found the 1:50 pacer and stuck around him while we waited for the start. He started off pretty slow due to the traffic and I couldn't stand giving those seconds up. I figured I would run on ahead and hope to never see him again.

The first 5k went well. I never felt too fast but managed just a few seconds behind my horribly-hot 5k race at the beginning of the summer. I skipped the first water stop but grabbed some water at the second one. I have gotten better at drinking on the run, but it still slows me down a bit. After mile 4 I took a gel and grabbed some more water. The first few miles are uneventful other than running through the entrance to the parking area where I high-fived a volunteer who was wearing giant Mickey hands. The course is pretty flat and open on the roads leading to the Magic Kingdom.

Next came the Contemporary Hotel and its underpass which goes under part of the lake. At the point where I wanted to attack the downhill, it got really congested and just couldn't cut loose the way I wanted. It probably only cost a second or two, but added some temporary frustration as I headed back up the other side.

As we headed into the Magic Kingdom, I started searching out photographers. Since I seemed to not get many pictures at the last Wine and Dine, I wanted as many as I could get. I took a good look at the castle and enjoyed the pre-dawn view with all the lights and high-fived the Mayor of Main Street. As we headed through the castle, photographers were lining the path and as I stuck out my hand to get ones attention, I heard an "are you kidding me" from behind as someone chose that second to pass. The video of me running out of Cinderella's Castle includes what was evidently quite the tussle as he was trying to pass me. It looks like I was trying to block him out but I had no idea he was there.

Just past Magic Kingdom came the 10k and the halfway point. Still feeling great, I thought about picking up the pace. After some prolonged self-negotiation, I decided to hold off for the last five. I popped my second gel somewhere after mile 8 and then got some more fluids at the mile 9 water stop. Somewhere around that point (I think it was after mile 9), I passed an amputee who had clearly outpaced me significantly. It sounded like he and his running partner decided to slow down so my guess is that he could have beaten me with one leg (for all I know he passed me later and I didn't notice). It was definitely inspirational. Also about mile 9 or so there was a really weird cold spot. I think it was maybe just a low spot that was a little foggy and cool. It has happened quite often on one of my normal running routes but this time it lasted so long I started to think something was wrong with me and I was having some kind of stress response. My breathing was OK and I didn't feel tired or like I was overexerting so I just kept going and eventually it warmed back up.

The last 5 miles, I decided to treat like a 5-mile tempo run. I figured if I could get down to my 8:15 tempo pace I could get in under 1:50. Up to that point I had been averaging about 8:25 but with a growing margin of error in my Garmin for every mile. I had seen the 1:50 pacer a few times but he was definitely pretty far ahead. My 5-mile tempo effort did manage to yield an 8:18, but then only 8:23. So then I decided I needed a 5k effort for the last 5k to have any hope of catching the pacer. Then came the overpasses. Mile 11 wasn't too bad, but mile 12 was brutal. After a relatively flat course, there were two large overpasses heading back to the Epcot parking lot. That meant 8:28 with a lot of effort. I'm pretty sure my form fell apart in mile 13 as I lumbered through Epcot. The route through Epcot is kind of an out-and-back with a little loop near the lake. I saw the pacer run by and had a last glimmer of hope of catching him. As my watch ticked 13 I knew I had about a quarter mile left due to the accumulated error of my less-than-optimal path. I accelerated through the 13-mile marker and checked my watch a little after to see that it had flipped from 1:49 to 1:50 just yards from the finish. Already running a 7-somehthing pace, I went into full-on kick mode when I hit the final stretch. There was a "kid" in front of me (ends up he was 14) and I passed him just before the finish line. Chip time - 1:50:50.

I'm not sure why I wasn't as excited this time as last time. I think I surprised myself before. I thought I could run 8:45s back then, but my training had been so tough and I spent so long running so slowly in comparison that I just didn't believe what the pace charts were telling me. This time, I was pretty sure I could do 8:30 so 8:27 wasn't so much of a surprise.

After crossing the finish line, I got my medal, grabbed my water and Powerade, and found a photographer for a "candid" picture of me with my new bling. Then I got my "offical" photo, pointing to my bib where my daughter had written "DAD" in crayon (I registered too late to get my name on it). I grabbed my snack box and a banana and headed to get my bag. I was hoping to come back and maybe get a massage since for once I wasn't in a hurry (wife and kid were possibly still asleep) but as I mentioned before, bag check was a one-way affair. As I walked toward the bag check tent, a volunteer called out my number to the volunteers inside (actually she was off by a digit somehow and had to call it out again). It was all very efficient and I think that is why I was so surprised that as soon as they handed me my bag, everyone in the tent started cheering. I was the only one in that tent at that time so they were all cheering for me. That was definitely pretty cool. I did not, however, fell cool when I tried to walk out the entrance of the tent and everyone started telling me I couldn't go back that way (no massage for me).

Since I was in the first few hundred finishers, the line wasn't too long for pictures, beer, or food, so I got my picture taken with Donald Duck (race director of the half marathon) and grabbed a $7 beer and a "breakfast bowl" from the food truck (eggs, peppers, onions, bacon, and hashbrowns).

Another little personal cheering session occurred when I got off the bus back at the hotel. I was sitting in the front of the bus and I was the first one off. When I got off the bus, all of the hotel workers and guests burst into applause. It was totally unnecessary and totally awesome at the same time.

I picked up my older daughter from home, met my wife and little one for lunch at Sanaa, and spent the rest of the day at the Magic Kingdom. Then dropped the family off at home and returned to the Disney area for some grub and a beer with a couple folks who had done their first leg of Goofy that morning. Finally collapsed around 8:30 at the end of a great day.

Statistics:
Chip Time 1:50:50
Clock Time: 1:52:09
5k: 26:32
10k: 52:21
15k: 1:19:02

1,241 of 23,126 finishers
179 of 1,608 men 35-39
977 of 9,998 men

Splits:
8:32
8:22
8:28
8:26
8:13
8:24
8:20
8:29
8:18
8:23
8:22
8:28
8:10
7:21

Have I Arrived?

When I ran my first 5k, the winner ran it in 19:xx. I remember thinking, "I could do that!" Almost 4 years later and I realize two things: that time won't win a lot of 5ks, and it is pretty fast for a guy my age. Now, after two excellent rounds of half marathon training with increasing pace, breaking 20:00 might be possible. "Might."

I'm still a running newbie. I only have a handful of races under my belt. The two most notable are my two half marathons. Before the first one, I don't think I ever ran 13.1 without stopping for a walk break. The only full I ran I walked through all the water stops. Now as I near my third half, I have broken 2:00, came close to 1:55, and now I'm targeting 1:52.

Most importantly, I feel like I've turned a corner. My goal when I started training last summer was to get faster but easier (if that makes sense). Up to that point I had gotten all of my pace through guts. Every mile was like a tempo run or harder. Speed work was at a blistering pace. Injuries of course followed. I got faster, but never felt like I could really hold onto that speed. After I ran the Wine and Dine in 2011, I thought I could hold onto that 9:00 pace for long runs and build from there. I was very disappointed when I found out that was the peak of my training and not a permanent change.

So what is different this time? Part experience and part attitude. The two go hand-in-hand. Experience tells me there is a difference between peaking for a race and long-term improvement. That led to an attitude this time to shoot for long-term improvement. The bottom line is, instead of sticking to my training plan to try to get to my target pace, I went after every run as an opportunity to build my pace. I wasn't following someone else's schedule hoping to reach my goal. I was running every run with a purpose.

So when I ran this last Wine and Dine in 1:55:40, I wasn't at all disappointed that I missed 1:55 by 40 seconds. Quite the opposite - I crossed the finish line pumping my fists and whooping and hollering because I knew the results weren't a peak, but a permanent change.

I still had my doubts though. When I signed up for the upcoming Disney half, I thought I would probably just hang on. I thought 1:55 was possible but probably not any significant improvement. I thought, "Maybe I'll get some good pictures with the characters this time." After all, most of my training would be interrupted by Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Years.

That wasn't the case. The "interruptions" turned into great weather and extra time. My training philosophy continued and so did my improvement. The measuring stick I used for my last round of training (pace in speed work and tempo runs) confirmed my improvement. This all culminated in what is probably a perfect workout this morning.

My plan called for a six-mile tempo run and while my new philosophy may not be driven by the plan, the plan still works. So I set out for a two-mile warmup, three hard miles, and then one mile recovery. My goal for my warmup was race pace (8:30). I managed that for the first mile then dropped down to around 9:00 to save gas for the tempo section. The next three miles were like so many before - just the "right" pace. A pace I could hold for that distance but not much more. I managed the run while running, making sure to stay relaxed and not over exert even at a "faster" pace. I knew the last mile would be tough and had to push a bit at the end to get under 8:00, but was not completely gassed either. Another workout in the bag. Another measurement of my progress. Another positive reinforcement of my training.

So will I break 20:00 for a 5k this year? Who knows? I'd be happy with 20:40 for sure. Will I break 1:52 a week from tomorrow? Possibly. The bottom line is, I don't care. I love running again and not just running faster. I love running with my wife and my new friends from my running groups. I love long runs by myself, speed work in miserable heat, and tempo runs on cold misty mornings.

I think about the quote from John F. Kennedy a lot when I run: "We choose to go to the moon in this decade and do the other things, not because they are easy, but because they are hard." I definitely run because it is hard, but I enjoy it so much when it is easy. After the 2011 Disney full, my wife got me "Run Less, Run Faster". I have loved (mostly) using the Furman FIRST plan. I've loved running 3 days a week and still improving. Now maybe it's time for me to write a book: "Run Faster, Easier."

Wine and Dine 2012

I have to keep reminding myself it was just last year I ran the Disney full. It seems so long ago. So many runs and races have passed since then including now two Wine and Dines.

My goal when I started training for this race was simple: run faster more easily. I know that sounds obvious but up to that point I had been gutting out too many runs. My long runs were never as easy as they should have been. That goal proved harder than expected. This summer was brutally hot and my pace paid accordingly. The workouts paid off though and things did get better.

My wife refuses to run the Wine and Dine because she has too much fun at Epcot while I'm running. We had po boys from our local Cajun joint for lunch and headed to the Port Orleans French Quarter resort to check in. As I was walking to our room, I realized I had left my Garmin at home. Julie got to take a nap while went back to the house to get it. By the time my buddy Don who was running with me got there, Julie had a pretty nasty migraine. I was really bummed for her and fully expected her to miss out on the race and the party, but by the time Don and I got back from dinner at the underwhelming on-site restaurant, she was feeling better. So Don drove us to Epcot and Julie headed into the park and Don and I caught the bus to the start at the Wide World of Sports.

The starting line area was like a deck party on a Carnival cruise but with about 14,000 people: lots of cheesy dance music. It was fun though. Hit the port-o-let's a few times while we waited and then checked our bags a few minutes before we moved to the corrals.

I don't remember what I put as my anticipated time but I was in Corral A. Don (who had been battling injuries, registered late, and didn't have a "valid" qualifying time) is way faster than me but was supposed to be in F. After some serious cloak and dagger to get by 3 different checkpoints, he managed to get into A with me. Good news is he was able to start with me. Bad news is something weird happened (most likely because he started 25 min early) and he might not get an official finishing time.

Disney races are always a spectacle and there were a lot of fun costumes. I saw a few female Buzz Lightyears, lots of lederhosen and dirndls in support of the food and wine festival, and even a couple with him in suit with a fedora (with shorts) and her in a silver and black full-length gown. Standing in the corral, the emcee kept the party going playing all kinds of dance music and showing how people would run to techno, Latin, gangster rap, etc. I caught myself bouncing a little too much sometimes and worried about wearing out my calves before he race. They eventually had the National anthem, started the wheelchair race, then counted down to the start.

It was really cool to actually start at the start of this race with so many people behind me. They do shoot off fireworks for each corral so you never feel like a second-class citizen, but it was still fun to be towards the front. At first I was nervous about being in the first corral and thought I might end up going out too fast trying to keep up. That fear disappeared quickly after the start when traffic was at about a 10:00 pace. Things picked up and we picked our way through to about a 9:00 pace for the first mile. Got the pleasure of witnessing a vomiting Disney princess around mile 1 (guess she went out too fast or maybe just had digestive issues). Then Don and I did about 8:30 for the second mile which averaged out the first mile to hit my 8:45 target pace. A little later, Don found his stride and I decided to back off so I didn't see Don for the rest of the race.

All of my training seemed to point at 8:45 and that pace felt almost too easy. I took some water at the second water stop and headed into Animal Kingdom. I was concentrating on taking a good line through the winding paths of the park but tried to look good for the photographers and took note of the Tree of Life and Mt. Everest as I ran by.

At mile 5, my Garmin filled up. In the confusion of trying to run and clear the history I managed to stop my watch for about a quarter mile so the rest of my splits were off. That wasn't too big of a deal because I was a bit ahead of the mile markers from the start so then I was just a little behind. The only problem was I didn't know how far off I was from the clock time and didn't have an accurate personal time. It wasn't a catastrophe, but it was a lesson learned.

Last year there was a relay with a 5/8 split so his was he point where I started being past by people heading out for their 8 mile leg. I didn't think about it at the time but I'm glad that didn't happen his year.

Everything was still feeling really good and I hit the 10k at 54:37 (8:47 pace) which was a PR for me (I've never run a 10k so all my 10k times are for longer races). I felt like I could go faster and thought I would hold off until mile 7 and then see if I could pick it up. I had a few splits in the 8:30s so I thought that might be in reach. That feeling quickly passed as the stretch heading into Hollywood Studios was the longest of the race for me. I took my Gu at about 7.5 then headed into Hollywood Studios. I alternated water and Powerade for the race and probably only hit about half of the stops. I used the squeeze-the-top-of-the-cup technique and never broke stride.

Hollywood Studios lasted much longer than I remembered. There were several times that I thought I had left just to turn the corner and see more stuff. Seeing Darth Vader was a pleasant surprise since I had completely forgotten about Star Tours. The Osborne Family Spectacle of Dancing Lights was...well...a bunch of lights. Somewhere in there I hit the 15k at 1:22:01 which was an 8:48 pace and another PR besting my performance from Miracle Miles in September.

I finally escaped Hollywood Studios and got to mile 10 with the hopes of a push for the last 5k. Since it was a nice round number, I could do the math and knew that I was well on my way to a PR. I would push a bit and get close to 8:30 only to recover a bit and end up splitting around 8:45.

I headed up the brutal little hill over the bridge heading to the boardwalk and accelerated down like last year. I don't think I held my pace like I did then though and a around mile 12 it really started to get tough. I concentrated on my turnover, arm swing, and tried to keep my legs moving. Once again I held hopes of picking up the pace and once again just didn't have it in me.

I headed into Epcot and spotted Julie around Spaceship Earth and her cheering really gave me the boost I needed. It was the first time I ever had anyone cheer for me in this kind of race. The only other time Julie was able to cheer was for a 5k.

Heading up to the 13 mile mark they had a cool laser setup with fog that made it look like a ceiling over the path. I remembered from last year that the finish came up quickly so when I hit the 13 mark I took off. I turned the corner and went into a full sprint. I saw the clock say 1:56 something and knew I would finish at 1:55 something. I pointed to the bleachers and let out a "WOOOOOO!" like Rick Flair and sprinted across the finish line with my fist in the air woooo-ing all the way and belted out a couple more woos as I got my medal. People looked at me like I was crazy which I just don't understand. I don't know how you can finish that type of race and not be excited. I know some people were probably disappointed with their performance but I'm sure I wasn't the only person who was that happy.

As easy as my final sprint was, I keep thinking I could have gone faster but as tough as those last few miles were I think my pace was just about perfect.

I took a long time to stretch and found Don. He had finished about 5 min ahead of me. I changed, we grabbed our free beer, and headed in to meet Julie. She had grabbed some foods and beer for us so we had that and then headed for Germany and beer and brats. We rode the Maelstrom in Norway and Spaceship Earth and that pretty much was enough for the night.

I don't race often and I race long even less. My half plan takes me through 18 really tough weeks but I'm two for two in being happy with my results. This was another great Disney race experience.

Splits: 9:20, 8:26, 8:47, 8:42, 8:37 (then watch filled up), 8:43, 8:50, 8:40, 8:50, 8:45, 8:44, 8:50, 8:38

Disaster Averted

As I sat at the kitchen table this morning getting ready for my run, I picked up my phone and surfed the Internet. I quickly realized that I was delaying my run, not because I didn't want it to start but because I didn't want it to end. This was my last workout at the end of 18 weeks of training for this year's Wine and Dine half. It was 18 grouling weeks through a typical hot and humid FL summer. I ran through injury and heat and came out stronger.

The weather was perfect. 50 degrees with a slight breeze. I walked to the front of my neighborhood, stretched, and found my favorite Indie Soup Runner podcast. I started running before I started my watch. My legs just started going before my brain kicked in.

I was cruising along at quick but comfortable pace thinking about how perfectly every was going on this last run before my race. Then SMACK! Reality hit me in the face in the form of a crack in the sidewalk. My toe hit in just the perfect spot (perfectly WRONG!). Before I knew what happened my palms were hitting the ground. I quickly spotted the grass next to me, tucked my left shoulder, and rolled onto the ground. As I fell, 18 weeks of running flashed before my eyes. I imagined a broken wrist, torn ACLU, broken leg, skinned knees, but escaped them all, finished my roll, bounced up, and resumed my run.

I had run the same stretch of pavement at least a hundred times without incident. I haven't even almost tripped while running in over a year. I have run through stretches of near total darkness and done trail runs through rough terrain and didn't have a significant stumble. Then my toe meets one crack and it could have been disaster.

Thank God! Disaster averted!

Great run. Easy 8:38 pace. Dialed in my race pace for Saturday. I'm going to stick with 8:45 for as long as I can and if I speed up, so be it.

Racing for Me

As I was reading about all of my friends' races this weekend on http://www.dailymile.com, I started thinking about how I race and what it means. I've really only been in a handful of races, but I've been in enough to know what I am looking for in a race experience.

Racing for me I very personal. It is a solo activity. That doesn't mean it isn't somewhat social. I will talk to people during long races. I will find "pace partners" to run with. But the experience is ultimately all about me.

I don't race with headphones. At first I did it because I heard some races don't allow them and didn't want to be thrown off if I planned on having them and couldn't. Now, however, it is part of the experience. I want to hear my breathing and compare it to the people around me. I want to hear the entertainment at big races. I definitely don't want to be distracted from the experience.

Except for about 1.5 races, I race alone. My first 5k, I ran the first half with my wife. A recent one, I ran with her the whole way (which was awesome!). Racing is definitely about doing the best I can on that day, but don't be fooled - I'm racing against other people too. At multiple times during the race, I will say to myself, "I am NOT letting that person beat me!". Reeling people in at the end of the race always gives me great pleasure.

All that being said, I think I'm ready to race with other people. I loved pacing my wife and can only imagine how much it would help to have someone pace me and how much more fun it would be to run with someone.

That will have to wait though, because I have a 5k in a month and, even though I am out of shape, I'm looking for a PR. So watch out! I'm going to be reeling you in!

What Caballo Blanco Means to Me

I am an engineer. There is no denying that. I was an engineer back when I thought that was someone who drove a train. I was an engineer before I understood what my dad (a chemical engineer) did. I have 2 degrees in engineering.  Yet, I have never worked as an engineer.

Maybe that is why Born to Run struck a chord with me.  I study things to increase my understanding, to make myself more well rounded, to become a better person. Born to Run taught me things about running and about myself that I believe made me a better person. The story of Micah True or "Caballo Blanco" was a key part if that journey. It may be a truly great story or just a cheap literary device.  Either way, for many of us who read the book, it was what sucked us in - the tale of this intriguing mystery man who disappeared into the desert to run with the greatest running people in the world.  The science in the book facinated me, but the people in the book are what helped cement my love for running.

Caballo Blanco was, I believe, every runner. Everyone who runs will eventually have those moments when they are one with the world. Their minds empty and they think of nothing - not work, not family, not friends, not breathing, not pace, not turnover, not PRing or BQing - nothing. There is only their body, in that place, at that time, moving through the world like the crawling ants, the falling leaves, the flowing streams. It doesn't matter if you are on a secluded trail in the middle of nowhere or in the middle of the lower Manhattan financial district during rush hour, you can still find those moments. I like to believe that is what Caballo was looking for and found in the Copper Canyons: a connection to himself and to the planet through running and those peaceful, loving people who made it the center of their culture.

This may be a grandios interpretation of someones poetic license of a really bad situation, but that isn't important. Regardless of how much of Born to Run is fact and how much is fiction, it is full of truth.  It is a story about things as runners we all already know. Because it surrounds these things with history and scientific studies and intriguing personalities makes it entertaining and believable, but it is telling us things we already know because we feel them.

Because of this, I know one thing: we should not morn the death of Caballo Blanco for long. When he left on that 12 mile run last week, I believe he knew it could be his last. I believe if you told him there was a good chance he would die in the woods that day, even if you told him he would certainly die that day, he still would have run. I think deep down we all know that every time we hit the trail or the road, it could be the last time. People who don't run mock the runners who drop dead of heart attacks in the middle of their runs. I know. I used to be one of the mockers. Now I understand. They could have had that heart attack on their couch or in their office. They could have been hit by a car or struck by lightning.  When their time came, they could not escape. What they could do in the mean time is run.

I believe Micah True knew that more than anyone. I believe he understood what running means to everyone who runs. I also believe he understood how running unites people. When is the last time you saw a marathon winner turn around and taunt the second place finisher? How many times have you seen them embrace? I think that is what we should think of when we think of Micah True or Caballo Blanco - that he has crossed the finish line and now is there to cheer us all on.

Am I a Distance Runner?

That title might sound odd considering I ran a marathon and a half last year, but I never liked those distances and wondered what my ideal race distance was.

Running is an evolutionary process. Lately, though, I felt like I was de-evolving. Then I started thinking maybe I am going through a metamorphasis. Whenever I played sports, I always had a little something extra in the tank. If I ran, I always had a kick. Once I started running, I enjoyed the long runs but LOVED the 5k. I loved being able to just go out "fast" and kick at the end. I loved speed work and tempo runs.

Lately I have been getting slower. At first I thought this was a bad thing. Then tonight during my speed work I started thinking that a big part of what I have been "losing" is my kick. Then I started thinking, maybe I haven't lost anything. Maybe my effort has increased throughout my run so I don't have anything left for a kick.

I am unquestionably slower. Training for a half has caused me to lose speed I had when I was training for 5ks. Not training for anything has definitely not helped lately which is why I got back on "the plan" tonight. However, if anything has improved it is my consistency. And maybe that means I am turning into a distance runner.

Scary.

Wined and Dined

Last night (and for most of us at least a little bit into this morning) was the Disney Wine and Dine half marathon and after party at EPCOT. For me, this race was much more than that. I think my running story is a bit abnormal since I went from non-runner marathoner without any sort of natural progession in my running. All of my significant growth as a runner came after my marathon.

However, this growth didn't come without a price. I have been training for something or other for over a year. I went from marathon training to back-to-back 5k plans and started training for this half before I finished my second 5k schedule. I wasn't training to finish races any more. I wasn't training to just get past some distance. I was training to get faster. It worked in spades for my 5k and, in comparison to my marathon pace, it worked for my half as well.

In typical newbie fashion, my goal pace for my half was almost completely arbitrary. Having done a 4:30 marathon, my next milestone was 4:00. When they guy working at the running store said he ran a half and didn't train but still finished under 2:00, I decided that was my goal. A 9:00 pace had gotten pretty easy for me so when I started my half training I decided a 9:00 pace was a good target. Everything went fine for the first few weeks. Then the weather got hot and I fell apart. My long runs were miserable and I was fighting to just finish. The conditioning I had from marathon training seemed to have disappeared during my 4-5 months of 5k training. Then in all the heat I felt like I forgot how to run fast too. As I got closer to the race I started to doubt my ability to get under 2:00. As cooler weather came literally the night of my race, I knew I would be able to gain some speed but was still nervous.

The race started at 10:00 PM so that the after party at EPCOT could start after the riff raff...I mean tourists ;) had left the park. That meant that yesterday was one of the longest days of my life. After my parents arrived to watch the kids, we headed out for lunch and then down to ESPN Wide World of Sports to meet up with my wife's cousin and her husband. My wife's cousin-in-law was also running in the race (his first half and longest distance) and the wives were going to be enjoying the party at EPCOT. Then we headed to the hotel to check in and kill time until the race. Around 7:00 we got on the bus to head for the starting line. I was sitting at the front of the bus as all the runners were boarding when I saw a Garmin 305 pass in front of my face. That is when I realized mine was sitting on the floor of the hotel room plugged into the charger. I went from anxious and somewhat relaxed to completely stressed out. After going back to the room to get my watch, we met up with some more folks loosely related to my wife and headed out to the starting line. I don't remember exactly when we got there, but my guess is it was before 8:00 so we had to kill around 2 hours.

The starting area was about as much fun as a field surrounded by port-o-lets could be. They had music pumping out of a pretty serious sound system so it sounded like the world's biggest (and most casually dressed) wedding reception. I did a little 10 minute warmup and then around 9:30 I headed for my start corral and tried to find my pace compadres. I didn't want to be too close to the front, but didn't want to be stuck in traffic either. I settled in around the middle surrounded by some groups, some couples, but immediately surrounded by 4 other people who were by themselves like me and appeared to be equally nervous.

The start of Disney races is always fun. They had a "Disney Recording Artist" sing the national anthem. There was a lone wheelchair participant who started at 9:58 with their own set of fireworks. The first corral of runners started at 10:00 and then we started around 10:05.

The start was a little slower than I remember the marathon being. I immediately got concerned that I might miss my goal by seconds due to being held up at the beginning. I tried to just stay relaxed and not burn too much energy weaving around but still hopped up on the grass for a while to get around some of the traffic.

Somewhere in there, my shoe came untied. This was a first for me in my fledgeling running career. Believe it or not I had never had a shoe come untied on the road and definitely not on a race. I took note of the time. I think it took something like 17 seconds to tie it.

The course was more fun than the full - started at EPCOT, ran to and through Animal Kingdom, and then through Hollywood Studios on the way back to EPCOT and the finish. There were several overpasses on the roads between parks which gave a good opportunity to conserve energy on the way up and fly on the way down. I tore it up on the downhills regularly breaking 7:30 according to my Garmin.

The ending was strangely familiar from the full - through Disney's Boardwalk into the back entrance of EPCOT. However, instead of wobbly legs feeling like I would barely be able to walk much less run across the finish, I was going to be putting in some of my fastest miles of the race. I found a woman who was running what I felt like was a good pace. More importantly, I felt like I could beat her. I stayed on her shoulder for the last mile or so. Once I hit a bridge around the back of EPCOT, I powered down it and left her behind for good. I split mile 13 in 8:33 - the fastest split of the race - and finished with a 1:58:39.

The party after was great. Got a free can of beer (ok, that was the low point) and had a gift card good for food/beverage that I used for a pint of Guinness and some other food (and of course spent more than the gift card was for). We didn't plan on staying until the 4:00 AM closing time but by the time we made our way out of the park, most of the people were leaving as it was pretty darn close. Definitely going to make this an annual race for as long as I can.

By the way, it is now May 31, 2012. The race started on October 1, 2011 and just today realized that I never finished this post. I have obviously been neglecting this blog.

It Starts Today!

It should have started this morning. In a way it did. It was the first day back at work after a long weekend (and another slow, sweaty, long run). It was a fight to get up at 5:00-ish AM. Temps were in the 80s before sunup. My knee was a bit tweaked so even walking was interesting to say the least. Just getting out and running was quite the accomplishment so doing 2x2000 sub-8 intervals is pretty damn good even if the plan was for 3x2000.

It wasn't good enough though.

So today is the day I start training for my race. That may sound odd considering I have less than 4 weeks left and have already been training for 15. I have been training to run a half marathon. I have been training to be faster than my full marathon and 15k (my only "long" race benchmarks). I have been training to break 2:00 - to become a "real" runner by my own artificial standard. I have NOT been training to RACE for 13.1 miles.

As most recreational runners know, only a few elite athletes race to win - especially in big races. Everyone else races themselves. Even if they are racing a friend/rival or pacing someone or just trying to finish, they are racing their own demons - the things that drove them to run in the first place or new lurkers discovered only after becoming a runner. For me it is the latter - I know I do not run as hard as I can. I'm hot, I'm tired, I'm thirsty. These are facts. These are things I cannot change. But there is one thing that is 100% in my control and that is how hard I try. I have wanted to try harder and to run faster, but it was easier to make excuses. The excuses end today.

Today is the day I start training my mind. I don't want to run 13.1 in 1:59:59. I sure as HELL don't want to run it in 2:00:01! Here is my goal:

1:57:40

For those keeping score at home, that is an 8:59 pace. It may not seem like much, but that is 10 sec/mi faster than 2:00:00. Most importantly, that is more than a full minute per mile faster than my marathon pace from earlier this year and 59.5 seconds per mile faster than my 15k from just under a year ago. That is a BIG difference. That is a gargantuan difference!

Anyone who has run a long race (or just a long run) with any sort of accurate timing knows that your pace varies even if only slightly. To average 8:59, you have to run a mile under for every mile you run over, second-for-second. That means, I will very likely need to be uncomfortable for several miles. I can't simply just run easy for 13.1 and then say, "Well, I finished a half marathon." when I am done.

So it starts today! Today is the day that I start training my mind for my race. Today is the day I stop letting excuses and weakness enter my mind and train it to fight through the pain and the tired legs and burning lungs. The picture I am building in my mind is me finishing my race with nothing left. I know I am strong enough, fast enough, have put in enough miles, done enough intervals, trained through the hottest part of the summer. I will not jog, I will not just run, I will not just finish, I will RACE for 13.1 miles and when I am done I will have won.

Florida Fallen Heroes 5k

Today was the "Florida Fallen Heroes" 5k in Tallahasse. This was a late sign up for the wife and I. We were already planning a trip up here when we found out one of the wife's clan was doing this race. After wengot here, he mentioned that part of the race was trail. I had no ideaand had just assumed it was along the roads in the park.

The race site (Maclay Gardens State Park) is a very pretty (and somewhat hilly) park. The start/finish was at a parking lot near a lake with a nice picnic pavillion. Mrs. L and I met up with her cousin's hubby and after walking down to the start area, registering, and getting our shirts, I loosened up with a little jog up and down the last few hills on the course.

After a moment of silence and presentation of the colors, they had a nice rendition of the national anthem and we headed to the start. The course was a lollipop out from the main parking lot to the trail section loop and then back.

The start was kind of sudden. I think I had already started running purely on instinct before I realized someone had actually said "start". The start was a pretty good hill so I took it easy and settled in with what seemed like my pace group. I was running at a very easy pace, attacking the downhills and relaxing up. That kept me pretty steady in my group. Some would pass me on the ups and I would fly back by on the downs.

We ran out of pavement around 0.75 mi or so and so that's where I lost my trail virginity. Hit the first mile marker and I didn't have a watch so I yelled out to see if anyone had a time. "8 minutes" is what came back so I felt pretty good about that.

Most of the people around me were huffing and puffing so I stepped on the gas a bit for the second mile. This was pretty flat and the trail footing was good. I started reeling people in in spite of the narrow trail. I felt kind of bad passing the ones in fatigues and boots but tried to make up by shouting some attempted encouragement (Good job! Keep it up! I couldn't run in those boots!).

Mile 3 was back through the hilly road section. I had a few folks pass me up here but not knowing how I would do on the hills, I stuck with my strategy and tried to hang in with help from the downs. I knew the finish was a big downhill for probably 200m so I knew I would reel in some more huffers and puffers with my kick. That included a guy I passed while he walked up a hill only to have him pass me on the flat top and a (slightly) older guy who eeked by and put about 30m between us.

I turned the last corner (which happened to be the top of the last hill) and hit he jets. I don't remember the last time I ran that fast. I was hootin' and hollerin' as I passed the folks who had passed me on the hills (out of exertion, not gloating). Hill walker was one of the first and I counted them off and had gray hair (again, just slightly more than me) in my sights and really opened it up. My goal (having nohing to base it on) was 25:00. I edged out gray hair right before the finish (which earned me a "you dog!") and crossed at 24:45 (7:59 pace).

Catching my breath required more "Whooooo!"s and so I apologized to the volunteers and other finishers after I regained my composure. After giving gray hair a fist bump and a "good race" I headed over to turn in my time and grab some water. I got to the finish in time to pull out my phone and get video of Mrs. L and cuz's hubby - so I thought. Ends up phone was set for still pics. Got picture of each at the top of the hill (when I thought I started the video) and the clock after they finished (when I thought I stopped the video).

Wifey PRed big time! 31:06 missing 10:00 pace by 6 sec. Previous best was around 33 or 34 and last race was 38. So proud!!! Cuz hub PRed as well between us.

I think the best part was running without having to worry about extreme heat/humidity, nagging injury, or goal pace. Always love race days - the excitement, comeradery, and competition. This was a great cause, great location, good weather, and shared experience with family. Great way to do an "easy" 5k run on a Saturday morning!